Ex CIA Chief Hayden - Military Strike Likely

It seems a chap who has spent his life in intelligence has smelled the roses and wishes to be not caught flat footed as the inevitable attack rolls in. Right now, I think the only question is whether it will be done with or without the application of US air power.

If the Israeli assets are in position in say Azerbaijan which is well within attack range of the Iranian infrastructure, then they are able to smash up the Iranian facilities. I would feel better if the B 52’s came in and really completed the job while the Iranian air force was suppressed by carrier based US fighters. That is Obama’s decision. I think the Israelis can possibly reduce Iranian capability and delay things for a couple of years by themselves. Their real hope would be that the attack triggers a regime change.

I also add this item by Reza Pahlavi who is obviously positioned to lead a restoration and perhaps the establishment of a constitutional monarchy as is common in many places.

A former CIA director says military action against Iran now seems more likely because no matter what the U.S. does diplomatically, Tehran keeps pushing ahead with its suspected nuclear program.

Michael Hayden, a CIA chief under President George W. Bush, said that during his tenure "a strike was way down the list of options." But he tells CNN's State of the Union that such action now "seems inexorable."

"In my personal thinking," Hayden said, "I have begun to consider that that may not be the worst of all possible outcomes."

Hayden said that the likelihood of a U.S. strike on Iran has risen in the face of Tehran's defiance to halt its contentions nuclear program, saying "We engage. They continue to move forward."

"We vote for sanctions. They continue to move forward. We try to deter, to dissuade. They continue to move forward," he added.

The former CIA chief predicted Iran, in defiance of the international community, planned to "get itself to that step right below a nuclear weapon, that permanent breakout stage, so the needle isn’t quite in the red for the international community."

Hayden said that reaching even that level would be "as destabilizing to the region as actually having a weapon."

Hayden also called homegrown terrorism "a devil of a problem" and the most serious threat facing American citizens. "In a democracy it’s incredibly difficult,” he said. “Look, we’ve all made our compromises with al-Qaeda and the al-Qaeda kinds of attacks.

"But how do you build a security structure that guards you against American citizens who are beginning to change in their thinking up to a point where they become a threat to the security of other Americans? That’s a devil of a problem."

Hayden said that the next step the intelligence community would take to combat homegrown terrorists would inevitably begin to infringe on the privacy of Americans, and that was still too steep of a price to pay.

"What are you or your viewers willing to pay?" he asked CNN interviewer Candy Crowley. “How much would you allow us commerce or privacy or convenience in order to get down to that level of granularity. And frankly, I think American political culture. I think you and I, as citizens, would be uncomfortable going very far in that direction. That what makes this such a devilish problem."

Hayden also emphasized that the U.S. military should stay in Afghanistan and that al-Qaeda’s influence in the country was waning becomes of the presence of U.S. armed forces. If the U.S. withdrew prematurely, it would be detrimental to American security.

"I would let this go for a while longer,” he said. “With regards to the small number of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, that may be a reflection of American combat power in Afghanistan and if one were to remove that combat power, one would naturally see the number of al-Qaeda rise."

But it was the Iranian threat that most concerned Hayden, he stressed. The United States, the United Nations and the European Union have imposed new restrictions on Iran over its nuclear enrichment activities, which the West fears could lead it to make a bomb.

The fourth round of U.N. sanctions calls for measures against new Iranian banks abroad if a link to the nuclear or missile programs is suspected and for vigilance on transactions with any Iranian bank, including the central bank.

On Saturday, several key Iranian officials estimated that the United States and Israel would not dare attempt a military strike of Iran's nuclear sites, adding that they were confident that Iranian forces would easily repel such an attempt, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

The United States, which has ships in the Persian Gulf, has not ruled out a military strike to thwart what it suspects is an Iranian nuclear weapons program. Iran denies its atomic program is aimed at making weapons

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Israel and the United States would never strike Iran, saying that "both the U.S. and Zionist regime face internal problems and they know that we make many troubles for them if they attack Iranian territory."

Yahya Rahim Safav told ISNA, Iran’s news agency, that Iran's armed forces were "fully prepared and enemies are aware of that, they do not have the power to take a political decision on the issue, because they know they can start the war but are not able to finish it."

"We need to be fully vigilant of these attacks, the enemy knows that it will regret if launches a land strike against Iran." Safavi said.

The commander of the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad-Ali Ja'fari said that the United States would not dare to attack Iran as it is fully aware of Iran’s defense power and its nation’s determination, Haaretz reported.

Ja'fari also said, according to the IRNA report, that he considered his forces' preparedness as being at their "highest level," adding that recent sanctions imposed on Iran in view of its contentious nuclear program would have no impact on Iran's potency.

Also Saturday, a former naval chief in Iran's Revolutionary Guard said his country has set aside 100 military vessels to confront each U.S. warship that poses a threat. General Morteza Saffari is quoted by the conservative weekly Panjereh Saturday as saying that troops aboard U.S. warships "are morsels for Iran to target in the event of any American threat against Iran."

In 2008, Iran put its most powerful military force, the Revolutionary Guard, in charge of defending the country's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, a vital oil route. Speaking with the semi-official Fars news agency, Iran's Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said that the increased U.S. pressure on Iran were prompted by Washington's desire to advance its "propaganda campaign "and gain control of the region.

Fars quotes Vahidi as saying that a military strike on Iran was unlikely, adding that Israel too was "uttering such remarks in a bid to reduce the growing international pressures through psychological warfare," Vahidi told Fars.

"We, too, advise them not to seek trouble and tension in the region through spoiling the atmosphere," Vahidi said.

Statement from Reza Pahlavi concerning the fate of compatriots on death row

I have profound concerns over the fate of my compatriots who could be executed any moment under the terms of death sentences handed down by the Clerical Regime. I urge all concerned citizens around the world to immediately write, call and email their ambassadors to the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as Iranian ambassadors in their own nations, to demand that these “judicial rulings” be reversed and the order of their executions be stayed.

Two of my compatriots who are in immediate danger of execution are Mrs. Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani, a mother of two, who could be stoned to death and a young man, Mohammad Reza Hadadi, who at the time of crime was approximately fifteen years old, is to be executed on Wednesday. Unfortunately, these cases are all too common in my homeland: over 600 people now sit on death row.

The continuing, serious and flagrant human rights violations of my compatriots by the clerical regime in Iran must end. The shameful record of the clerical government’s endless violations of all the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - to which Iran has long been a signatory - needs no recounting. Since its inception thirty years ago, the clerical regime of Iran has been repeatedly cited for human rights violations by a host of international human rights agencies and organizations, including United Nations’ Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee, United Nations’ Commission on Human Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and The International Federation for the Defense of Human Rights.

I cannot overstate the urgency of Mrs. Ashtiani’s and Mr. Hadadi’s situation – or of my compatriots. Widespread and increasing violations of the human rights of millions of my compatriots in Iran have reached catastrophic proportions.

It is my solemn responsibility to speak for my compatriots who cannot speak for themselves. All Iranians must do the same – as well as any freedom-loving person regardless of nationality. Today wespeak for Mrs. Ashtiani and Mr. Hadadi, and we urge foreign governments to bring quick pressure on the Iranian clerical regime to spare their life.

And my message to the Clerical Regime is that, I ask you to put an end to your unjust and barbaric actions, as your actions will not be forgotten.